Laurie Kahn

Most romance readers are at least vaguely aware of how big the romance publishing industry is, and that romance writers produce an incredibly diverse range of books across the genre. But did you know that romance fiction comprised the largest share of the U.S. consumer market in 2010? And that revenues from romance fiction far surpass other genres, like classic literary fiction and mysteries?

Despite that, it’s pretty much true that romance novels and their readers don’t get a whole lot of respect. Laurie Kahn, a respected documentary filmmaker, wants to help change that. She’s part of the Popular Romance Project, an exciting initiative set up to explore the origins and influence of popular romance. The Project has a number of cool things on the go, but the one I want to tell you about today is a documentary that Laurie is filming.

The documentary is called Love Between the Covers, and it will be a feature-length film intended for international television broadcast, focusing on the global community of romance readers, writers, and publishers. Love Between the Covers will also be used at a symposium at the Library of Congress, in nationwide library programs about popular romance run by the American Library Association, and at a website dedicated to studying popular romance across time and cultures–the prototype of that website is currently at the existing Popular Romance Project website.

I’m thrilled to be part of this project in a small way as a participant in Laurie’s interviews with authors and readers of romance, which include New York Times bestselling writers like Eloisa James, Brenda Jackson and Jayne Ann Krentz. I know that Laurie is looking at our community in a completely respectful and non-condescending way, and I’m happy to support the project. I’m hoping you can support it too.

And if you look real hard, you can see an interview clip with me near the beginning of the film!

Folks, I hope you can take a few minutes to check out the video preview ofLove Between the Covers. As Laurie herself says in the trailer, it’s time to take a good look at the women who read and write these books, and who fuel this powerhouse of culture and commerce. Laurie is doing just that in a respectful and supportive way, and that’s something I think we all can support.